Work starts on Felou dam in Mali

This week saw the laying of the foundation stone of the Felou hydroelectric dam in Mali.

A ceremony was organized for the occasion, bringing together the executives of the member countries of the Organization for the Exploitation of the Senegal River (OMVS), these being Mauretania, Mali, and Senegal, according to the Nouakchott news agency.

The President of the OMVS, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, declared in an opening speech: “We are expecting great things from this project, which is a real instrument of development and will allow for resources to be developed to the benefit of the populations concerned and improve the conditions of their lives greatly.”

The Chinese company Sino Hydro Corporation has been chosen to construct the dam, which will be operational in 2012.

With a capacity of 200 MW, the project will cost about 270 million Dollars.

It is being financed by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank.<br/>